https://www.wsj.com/politics/mike-gallagher-retires-quits-congress-00dae773The 39-year-old former Marine Corps intelligence officer cast the decision as personal, saying that he had always planned to treat his service in Congress as “a deployment, not a career.” His departure will further erode the ranks of GOP committee chairs, following decisions by other Republican chairs not to see another term.
“Eight years is a long deployment, and it’s been a hell of a deployment,” Gallagher said in an interview. A married father of two, Gallagher also said he hoped to expand his family and that “Congress is not an ideal place to build and raise a family.”
He had previously ruled out a run for the U.S. Senate, saying he preferred to stay in the House, where he felt his work as a committee chair would make a lasting impact. Republicans had hoped he would run because the Wisconsin Senate seat is one of eight Democratic-held seats rated by the Cook Political Report, a non–partisan election arbiter, as at risk of falling to Republican hands. Gallagher has also consistently outperformed former GOP President Donald Trump, and his principal campaign committee had more than $4 million in cash on hand at the end of 2023, federal records show—more than any other House Republican.
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Bummer. Big loss in my opinion.
Maybe Kari Lake can move to Wisconsin, grow some savy, and be their senator.